Zagor (warlock)
For other uses of '''Zagor', see'' Zagor (disambiguation) Oldoran Zagor may be referred as the most emblematic villain of the Fighting Fantasy series since he is the only one to be fought three times. ]] He is a powerful elementalist warlock who serves as the primary antagonist in The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, Return to Firetop Mountain and Legend of Zagor. He is mentioned in other gamebooks such as Caverns of the Snow Witch and Creature of Havoc. Early Life and Origins According to the sage Ellagrim Grimalkin of Fang, Zagor's first name is Oldoran, a name reminiscent of the ancient name for Zengis, Goldoran, the town of his birth. He was the son of a merchant wizard from Zengis called Gerlekus Zagor who in turn was the great-grandson of the sorcerer known as Gallan Zagor, Oldoran's great-great-grandfather. Gallan had made vast sums of money from the practice of sorcery and had been the first of the Zagors to move into Firetop Mountain, driven by a need to protect his horde. - ??? Demonic Origins There are stories that suggest Gerlekus Zagor was a necromancer whose ambition was to produce an heir whose mother was of Demonic origins. Oldoran was the result and was brought into the world through the use of three ritual arcana: a ceremonial robe (once in the possession of Princess Farina Endul Kerithrion of the Dark Elf city of Tìranduil Kelthas); a chalice (guarded by mutant Gonchong-infected undead Giants on an uncharted island in the depths of Lake Nykosa); and a sword (wielded by Oldoran's Demonic mother who must be summoned at his birthplace of Skullcrag in a cavern beneath an enormous skull of ice that lies in a crater on the Frozen Plateau). - ??? This demonic origin tale has one serious flaw, however, in that it states Oldoran is over 3000 years old which is incongruous with what else we know of him. The Demonic Three It is said that Oldoran was part of the the Demonic Three, the best students of the sorcerer Volgera Darkstorm, along with Balthus Dire and Zharradan Marr. - ??? The three were friends and rivals who killed their master with a Rain of Knives spell, when they thought that he was no longer of any use to them. - ??? However, it was later claimed that Zagor had no part in the murder of his mentor and resented deeply the other two for their actions. - ??? After that, he separated with the other two, and headed North for Firetop Mountain. Perhaps it was his ancestor, Gallan's, eviction by the Dwarfs of Redweed that drove Oldoran's ambition to reclaim the mountain domain, or perhaps it was the sheer presence of his inheritance held deep within the passages of Firetop. Whatever the reason, he recruited an army of monsters and retook the mountain domain from the Dwarfs. Zagor came to Firetop Mountain on Stormsday 5th of Fire, 249AC. - 132 In The Warlock Of Firetop Mountain Nothing in The Warlock of Firetop Mountain is said about Zagor's goals and personality. It is just known that he rules the mountain and the monsters living here and that he owns an immense treasure that the character of the book is willing to steal. Paradoxically Zagor can be seen as the victim who stands up for his life. However, having an army of monsters at his disposal shows that he can't be regarded as benevolent. The player can either use a magic gemstone to destroy him without a fight or burn his magic cards to weaken him drastically and defeat him more easily. The final paragraph tells the player that their character can use Zagor's spellbook to become the new ruler of the Firetop Mountain, however whether or not they did so is not within canon. In Return To Firetop Mountain The plot of the book occurs ten years after Zagor's death. It is said that he was truly Evil, spreading fear and misery all over the region and that he "gained" much of his treasure by stealing it from the local villagers. Zagor is revived thanks to a resurrection spell he cast before The Warlock of the Firetop Mountain events, and plans to invade Allansia. He kidnaps people to rebuild his decayed body and causes a pest in the city of Kaad. The local villagers hire the player to go and kill Zagor for the second time. In this book nothing can destroy or weaken Zagor and the player has to find four golden Dragon fangs in order to counter the Elementals that Zagor will summon before fighting by himself. Zagor appears here as an elemental warlock and as a surprisingly fair player. After having all his Elementals overpowered he recognises the player as an equal and challenges them to a fair fight with nothing but a dagger for weapon. The ending paragraph states that he will resurrect again. In Legend Of Zagor The events in Legend of Zagor take place in the country of Amarillia in a different dimension than Titan. It is said that at the moment of Zagor second resurrection, in Amarillia the Demon Bone was defeated and trapped in a dimensional void. In retaliation Zagor is taken to the same dimensional void where he merges himself with the Demon Bone and becomes a Demon warlock unfathomably powerful and almost invincible. He then gathers the remaining strength of the Demon Bone's armies and takes over the Castle Argent, planning to invade Amarillia. After defeating him, the player must drag his corpse and throw it into a magical fire to destroy him once and for all. Just like in The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, the player can "meet" him through a picture and his last line of defense is a fearsome Dragon, only weaker than him by a single point of skill. Statistics and Fighting Skills In every book, Zagor is a formidable foe, especially in the second where he can't be weakened by any mean and the third where he is truly fearsome. *In the first two books, he has 11 in skill and 18 in stamina. *In Legend of Zagor, he has 16 in skill and 20 in stamina, which makes him one of the most powerful antagonists of all the Fighting Fantasy books along with the Night Dragon (skill 17 stamina 32) and Titanium Cyborg (skill 18 stamina 20). He can only be defeated by decreasing his skill with the Golden Lockets and can attack with a lightning spell, (minus 7 stamina points) a fireball spell, (minus 5 stamina points) or a life absorbing spell, (minus 2 stamina points and 1 skill point) a poisoned dagger, (minus 3 stamina points) and his fists/claws (minus 2 stamina points). Powers Zagor is often referred as one of the greatest sorcerers ever seen in Titan. He has a wide array of powers at his disposal which range from animating normal objects, materialising things drawn in the ground and the walls or seeing and talking to someone through a picture representing him, to shape-shifting, teleportation, hypnosis, bewitching cards, summoning Elementals and Demons, casting resurrection spells or cursing someone trough a mere writing. Other Media *Clarecraft fashioned a figurine of Zagor, the Warlock of Firetop Mountain. Further Notes *Rumours abound in Central Allansia that Oldoran Zagor has a son.Allansia News from [[Fightingfantasygamebooks.com]] See Also References Category:10AYB Entries Category:FF01 Entries Category:FF09 Entries Category:FF24 Entries Category:FF50 Entries Category:FF54 Entries Category:Humans Category:Humans-Individuals Category:Major Faces of Titan Category:Major Villains Category:Titan Entries Category:Trolltooth Wars Entries Category:Wizards